Carn Brea Trails

Carn Brea (Cornish: Karnbre) is a civil parish and hilltop site in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hilltop site is situated approximately one mile southwest of Redruth. Few people realise that the perhaps the most important archaeological site in the county (or perhaps further afield) can be explored on the slopes and summits of Carn Brea hill. Approximately six thousand years ago a series of massive stone walls were constructed to encircle the central and eastern tors of the hill and a double set of ramparts was erected across the slopes, linking the two and enclosing the area between them.

The massive ramparts, which were estimated to have stood over 2m high and 2m thick, were constructed with granite facings and granite rubble infill; the facings were built with a series of large regularly spaced uprights linked by sections of horizontal dry-stone walling. The walls were not continuous but utilised natural granite outcrops and large earth-fast boulders to provide a seamless barrier. Traces of the ramparts are still visible as low spread stony banks, especially in areas where the vegetation has been kept low, for instance, along some of the footpaths.

The hilltop bears evidence for occupation from just about every period from the stone tools of hunter gatherers up to the present day. Though there is no evidence for houses, the Bronze Age is represented by several finds of bronze tools and weapons, in addition to some flint barbed-and-tanged arrowheads; settlement at this time would more likely have been on the lower slopes or in the valleys.

Carn Brea is owned and managed by Cornwall Council; there is a small car park on the saddle area reached by a narrow lane from the village of Carnkie. Numerous footpaths converge on the hill from the four directions.